Last One Standing
by CryingMoonLight
Summary: "She's mysterious like Shino, she's silent like you, She sleeps like Shikamaru, and she loves Dango who is she?"He gave Naruto a you-really-expect-me to-lose-to-a-dead-last-like-you look "Duh, it's Sakura, who else" A completely different story. Sakuxmulti. Revised Version of The Secret Blossom
1. The Chapter Full of Sweatdrops

Rated: T (Cause I'm Paranoid like that)

Disclaimer: I **wish** I own Naruto

Enjoy!

* * *

"_Last One Standing"_

**Chapter One: The chapter full of Sweat Drops A.K.A. The Beginning**

The brooding onyx-eyed boy named Uchiha Sasuke walked at a steady pace in the hallway of the Academy of Konohagakure no Sato to enter his classroom to be the first one to enter and be able to enjoy the silence it provides, but then again that's not the only reason why he woke up at five-_freaking-_am, he just want to be able to beat _her._

He quickened his steps till he reached the door, eyeing the doorknob; he turned it slightly and accessed the room.

'_Kuso'_

She's already here, the kunoichi he wanted so badly to beat.

Sakura Haruno.

He disliked everything about her, especially on how she shared the top spot with him. Damn it! He was _the_ Uchiha, the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre; he was supposed to be _the_ top. And to top all of that she's sitting on _his_ chair. Everybody knows he sits there; even Naruto knows it!

He took the seat next to her and observed her slightly, she's… intriguing to say at least. She wore a hooded vest that covers her eyes and underneath, an overlarge turtleneck that covered her mouth, her gloves covered her hands which are rarely seen and black leggings that covers her legs, she also wore boots instead of the usual ninja sandals, actually her nose is the only thing he—or everyone else for that matter is able to see. The only thing that she wears that has color is her kunai pouch which is on her thigh.

Her clothing dubbed her as the female Shino. She's also dubbed as the female Shikamaru and female Sasuke. Why? Well because she mostly broods and sleeps in class, it's actually a puzzle on how she still get's the highest score.

He reminisces the first time he saw her…

_Seven months ago…_

_The students were chattering, one of them was brooding (a.k.a Sasuke), another individual was sleeping (a.k.a. Shikamaru), and some were eating (a.k.a. Naruto and Choji) inside their classroom. The creaking of the door made the students inside to halt and quickly go back to their own seats as if they never left, well except the loud mouthed blonde who put a chalkboard at the top of the door, and snickered while going back to his seat._

'_Dobe' a certain ice cube thought, who flipped his hair to the right which made the fangirls sigh_

'_He's so stupid' Ninety-seven percent of the class thought_

'_Oh, Naruto-kun' a white eyed Hyuuga thought_

_And the last person, the Nara… was well… sleeping…with drool on the side of his mouth_

_The door opened and the chalkboard could be heard gliding down. A brown eyed man with a scar on his nose came in with somebody else following after him; it was Iruka-sensei and the transferee._

"_Listen up class; we have a new stude-"he was cut off by the object that he was now picking from the ground. He gave Naruto a glare, but didn't say anything else; instead he continued what he was saying._

"_As I was saying, we have a transferee" he spoke loudly, he nodded to the one beside him, "Introduce yourself"_

_There was a pause, then…_

"_Sakura Haruno" she said_

_Her voice was melodious, it was a beautiful, it was mesmerizing, and it... was the only thing she said. _

_The whole class sweat dropped._

Both sat in silent, it was a comfortable silence for the hooded girl and it was nerving for the boy.

After five minutes…

Sakura pulls a very-large-book-that-is-half-the-same-length-as-her-which-is-also-very-thick out of her bag.

Sasuke twitched

After thirty minutes people began coming in, everyone glanced at the peculiar sight before sitting…

Sakura is still hidden in the very-large-book-that-is-half-the-same-length-as-her-which-is-also-very-thick and is still reading

Sasuke is now obviously twitching

Ten minutes before class starts…

"Oi, Creephead, get away from my Sasuke-kun" The Yamanaka shrieked

"Yeah Ino's right, you don't even like him" Watanabe added

Five minutes passed, and the whole fan club of a certain Uchiha threw insults at the unmoving girl. The females got tired and eventually left her alone. Naruto walked towards Sakura after this.

"Oi Sakura-chan how'd you managed to listen to them and not get deaf?" he whispered loudly to her ear

A few seconds passed till he was replied a soft snore from the hooded girl.

Everyone majorly sweat dropped, _big time_.

The question is how did she actually manage to sleep all through that noise? Even Shikamaru Nara woke up; who I might add seems to look enviously at the hooded girl...

"Okay class. Listen up!" Iruka-sensei said coming inside the classroom,

"Iruka-sensei" A hand waved up attracting the attention of the Chuunin

"Yes Naruto, what is it?" he asked the blonde

"Sakura-chan's asleep… again" The blonde replied rather... enthusiastically, caffeine does that.

"Again?" He sighed while scratching the back of his neck, "She sure is breaking Shikamaru's record." He took something out of his pocket and walked towards the hooded girl. "Sakura-chan, if you wake up, I'll give you some… dango" he whispered in her ear, but Naruto and Sasuke was still able to hear it, both sweat dropped… _again._

In an instant a hand snatched the delicacy away from the man's hand and was instantly hidden inside the hooded girl's pocket.

Iruka sighed "Class I'll just get some papers in my office, stay quiet alright" he needed to talk to the Hokage again, he need to persuade him, putting those three students in the same group, he just know trouble would arise.

"Hai Iruka-sensei" They chorused cheerily.

Children. You don't know whether they're saying the truth or not.

Haruno Sakura tilted her head, nobody have ever seen her eyes nor her hair, it was almost impossible, surviving seven months in the academy without anybody knowing what you really look like, well _almost,_ not entirely. He saw on her left was the Uchiha whom was brooding and blinked, on his left was the Uzumaki, who was looking at her looking at him.

'_What's so great about him'_ Naruto thought angrily about the Uchiha that everyone seemed to adore.

"What?" Sasuke asked harshly noticing the gaze of his seatmate

"What do you mean by **what**!" Naruto replied angrily

While all of this was happening, the person on the right of the Uchiha watched them amused.

The blonde jumped to the table and glared fiercely at the on the onyx eyed boy, their faces inches apart, well that is before Naruto got pushed by somebody on his back, and now…

They were kissing!

Sadly they quickly parted… What a shame! –Sigh-

"NARUTO, YOU MORON! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Sasuke said gagging, hands on his throat

"YUCK! MY MOUTH IS ROTTING!" Naruto said instead of replying

'_I sense something bad' _The blonde thought shivering slightly

The orange clad boy forcefully turned around to see the angry horde of girls glaring at him.

'_Yep definitely bad __**–gulp- **__I'm too young to die'_ Sweating obviously, he began to look for a great hiding place to spend the night or maybe... eternity, because seriously _fangirls_ are scary.

While Naruto was getting beat up, the Uchiha was trying not to wet his pants because he could feel the glare of the Hyuuga heiress on him. A jealous Hinata Hyuuga was someone not to cross. It was always the shy ones that are the most dangerous.

_Always_

Soft giggles stopped everyone and made them look at the source; it was Sakura, who immediately stopped. She was giggling for the _first time! _(in front of them at least). They snapped out of their thoughts when the door opened again and their sensei walked in.

"Starting today, all of you are real shinobi. But you are still Genin, that hard journey that lies ahead are just getting started." He started, looking at them one by one "Starting today we will create the three man teams… and each team will have a Jounin sensei"

"_Pfft… Three man teams? That only means more people in my way"_

"…_I… wanna… eat… the… dango…"_

"_I want to be with Sakura-chan and anyone but with that teme"_

"Alright, we tried to balance each team's strength" Iruka continued and started telling the teams

"Team 7: Haruno Sakura…-"

The female straightened, it was obvious she was listening now

"… Uzumaki Naruto…"

"YES!" The blonde shouted, he was very pleased with the news

"..and Uchiha Sasuke…"

'_The world really does hate me huh, no matter I shall get my revenge… *evil smirk* HOHOHOHO! ... I think I may be crazy… this is all your fault NARUTO!'_

Yes, that was a peek inside Sasuke Uchiha's mind

Yes, this is very real

No, you are not dreaming

Yes, I'm going back to the story, Jeez

Murmurs immediately started

"What!"

"No way"

"Troublesome"

"Loud and Quiet, complete opposites"

"Yeah and there's Sakura"

But the loudest was Naruto's

"IRUKA SENSEI WHY DOES AN OUTSTANDING SHINOBI LIKE ME –Pfft! Yeah Right- SHADDUP SASUKE! HAVE TO BE ON THE SAME TEAM AS THAT PRICK OVER THERE" He said pointing at Sasuke

"Listen Naruto, Sasuke's grades along with Sakura where the best along all of you graduate's and you were **dead last**. You do understand we have to balance these teams, **right**?" he told him sternly.

"Bah, just don't get in my way dead last" Sasuke told the blonde

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto shouted angrily

"Just Stop" Sakura said silently, yet there was an air of finality under it

Everybody stopped and listened

Iruka sweat dropped and faked a cough to get their attention

"As I was saying, this afternoon we'll introduce your Jounin senseis" Iruka continued "Until then take a break" he finished leaving

After lunch break, only three were left on their classroom

Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of the Uchiha Massacre is sitting on his sit brooding... again

Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi vessel is pacing in front of the door; and

Haruno Sakura, the mysterious transferee whom is currently eating dango

These Genin create Team 7

But they are not complete; their sensei is still missing, in other words...

He's Late.

"Dobe, what are you doing?" asked the brooding Uchiha to the "dobe" who put an eraser (of a chalk) between the door

"Chill Sasuke teme it's what he gets for being late" Naruto replied snickering

"Pfft, he's called a Jounin dobe, not an idiot"

A hand slid down between the doors to open it, making the eraser fall down. There emerged a man wearing a Jounin vest with a mask.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA He fell for it" Naruto laughed

'_Is this really a Jounin, he doesn't seem very reliable' _the Uchiha thought

"My first impression of you guy's….I dislike you" The jounin said

And yes, all through what happened, Sakura was still there eating her dangos…

"All of you to the roof if you may" and with that he disappeared with a poof.

At the roof The Jounin looked at his new students-slash-minions and crinkled his eye

"Well then let's introduce ourselves" he started

"What do you want to know?" Naruto asked a confused expression on his face

"How about you like, dislikes, your dreams for the future" he replied "things like that"

"How 'bout you give us an example" Naruto said while adjusting his hitai-ate

"Hatake Kakashi… I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes, my dreams for the future hmm, and I have a lot of hobbies"

They sweat dropped.

'_All we learned is your name'_

"Let's start with the one with the hideous fashion sense" He said pointing a look at Naruto who scowled and said something about I-HAVE A-NAME-YOU-KNOW-YOU-BETTER-SLEEP-WITH-ONE-EYE-OPEN-AND-ORANGE-IS-SOOO-THIS-SEASON which Kakashi replied with something along the lines of YEAH-RIGHT-LIKE-YOU-CAN-AND-ORANGE-IS-SOO-TWO-DAYS-AGO. They glared for a few moments before the twelve year old finally gave in.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I like Ramen especially when Iruka-sensei pays for it… I dislike 3 minutes waiting for it to cook…"

They sweat dropped.

'_Does he only think about Ramen?'_

"And my dream is to surpass the Hokage and make the people in this village acknowledge me" He said proudly.

Kakashi's eye crinkled, Sakura hid a smile and Sasuke well was being... Sasuke a.k.a. being an unemotional 'teme'

'_He's grown in an interesting way'_

"-… and Hobbies... Pranks I guess" He finished

They fell… anime style…in their minds at least…

'_And he was doing so well'_

"Next Emo boy that might be gay when he grows up" Sasuke glared at him and gave him a look that mostly says: I-AM-A-AVENGER-DON'T-MESS-WITH-ONE which Kakashi replied with a DUDE-KEEP-DREAMING-I'M-A-PRO-YOUR-JUST-A-BEGINNER-LOOK-FOR-ME-WHEN-YOUR-IN-LEVEL-FIVE look.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are a lot of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And I can't really call it a dream but an ambition. The resurrection of my clan… and to kill a certain man…"

'_He better not mean me'_

'_As expected of the sole survivor of the massacre, the first goal need teaching, I think I now know why the Third gave me this team'_

'_Dramatic much?'_

"And the last one" Kakashi said pointing at Sakura

A big pause came

"… Sakura…" she said before munching a dango

"…Your likes?" Kakashi further asked

"…Dango" she replied once again

"Dislikes?" Naruto urged her to continue

"…Nothing" she took another bite of her food

"Hobbies?" It was Sasuke who further asked this time

"Sleeping" They nodded, that was expected at least

"…Dreams?"

There was a big pause

"…To live"

'_Huh?' But Sakura-chan's already alive'_

'_She's already living… what a dobe '_

'_Interesting girl'_

"Ok" Kakashi started again "Tomorrow we'll start our duties as a shinobi"

"YEAH! WHAT KINDS OF DUTIES! DUTIES! DUTIES!" Naruto exclaimed loudly

Seriously you can only use the word "duties" many times in one sentence

"First were going to have some survival training" Kakashi started to smirk

"We already did that at the academy! Dattebayo!" Sasuke just looked at him blankly

Kakashi snickered "You see of all the graduates only nine will become a genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over sixty six percent"

Sasuke and Naruto were shocked, though Sasuke was subtle and Naruto is just plain showing it.

And Sakura…is opening another packet of dango… again…

"THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF GRADUATING?" Naruto shouted, an irritated look on his face

"That… well that was just to select of those who can be genin" Kakashi replied calmly "Anyway tomorrow, bring all of your shinobi tools, you got to show you're real skills… Oh and you might want to skip breakfast, you might throw up" Then he disappeared in a poof

"Ja" Sakura said quietly

Sasuke just plainly left

Naruto took a while before he realizes that he was the only one left.

And that, my friends, is the start of a Team Seven

Let's just hope they survive each other...

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **

Yo! How was it? It's been how long since I've been M.I.A. in FF? Don't even answer that question. *grins sheepishly* I owe each one of my readers an apology, I'm sorry for putting aside this story for months. But guess what? I'm back! I hope that even though I made all of you wait for months you would still read my stories. I've been through a challenging moment in my life, where I'm trying to create who I am. *laughs* And you probably already saw my new title, Last One Standing, which someone PM-ed to me out of blue. Well other than my life, my brother was another reason why I wasn't able update, seriously though, who blocks their sister's favorite websites? I hope you enjoyed my revised version of "The Secret Blossom" Yeah anyway because all of you still read this, I made a lengthy extra (my first time doing one too!) And because today is Christmas (12/25/12) I made it Christmas-themed! (Though it's not really jolly) I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are highly appreciated (which from now on, I'll try to reply), so are constructive criticisms. Enjoy!

* * *

**EXTRA #1: CHRISTMAS**

Christmas is supposed to be a day full of joy.

To Uzumaki Naruto, Christmas was just like any other day, he would wake up, brush his teeth, take a bath, go to school, get taunted, the norm. He had no parents to take care of him. There was no father to pretend like Santa Claus or a mother to prepare a feast. He had no friends to give him gifts or his own house to call a home. He only has an apartment given to him by the old man, clothes he has to wash every single day so that the next morning he would have something to wear, some spare change, and an expired carton of milk.

Christmas was nothing special, actually Naruto didn't liked the holiday; it was just a painful reminder that he was _alone_ and that hurt. A lot.

"Naruto!" He heard Kakashi call him, standing beside him was a smirking Sasuke and Sakura who was holding another pack of dango. The blonde grinned before getting up

"Coming!"

* * *

But that all changed…

* * *

Christmas is supposed to be a day full of forgiveness

To Uchiha Sasuke, Christmas is just a waste. When he was a child he used to look forward to it, who wouldn't? He had mother who would give him hugs and kisses and lots and lots of love. A father who was the head of the clan, respected and admired. And a brother who was an absolute genius. But now… he has an Uchiha compound, no father, no mother, no brother, no one.

He remembered an old saying, "It is better to loved and lost than never loved at all". Whoever said that was an idiot, because it was not better, he felt regret, he regretted that he was not strong enough to protect them, he felt yearning, yearning for his mother's love, for his father's smile, for the good old times. He felt empty… Absolutely empty, as if he was alone, and the sad thing is, he is alone.

"Oi Teme!" Naruto's hand kept waving in front of his face, he immediately snapped it away

"You're an idiot" He said to him not meaning it. He then dodged an incoming attack knowing the blonde was gonna react violently, which he did, Sasuke quickly ran, leaving his company behind.

"Race you there" he heard a female voice shouted, and before he knew it he saw her pink hair in front of him

"That's not fair!" Naruto shouted, from behind

He was not able to suppress his smile

* * *

Because they were much more than a team…

* * *

Christmas is supposed to be a day full of smiles

To Hatake Kakashi, Christmas was a pain, he has to buy gifts, he has to complete his missions (because ninjas don't really have holidays) and spend his time mourning in front of the memorial stone. He never really paid much attention to the dates or to time; He really had nothing else to live now that he thought about it. His father's gone; his father figure is also gone, so are his team mates. He was alive yet dead at the same time. Time flew by and he forgot to smile, his real one. That was until he found them, his children, his "minions", his team

He heard them stop running in front of him, and when he looked at them, he saw them waiting for him

"C'mon Kaka-sensei" Naruto said impatiently

"You could have gone ahead y'know" He told them raising one of his eyebrows. The only female of their group laughed, her eyes twinkling

"It's not just the same without you sensei" Sasuke smirked, Naruto grinned and she continued to smile.

He would be lying if he said he didn't loved them after all this time

* * *

They were family now after all…

* * *

Christmas is a day of many things

To Sakura Haruno, Christmas was anything but happy. To her it was a day where hearts keep breaking. It could be the day where a couple having their five year anniversary suddenly split. Or maybe the day when a child just witnessed her parents get a divorce. It could be the day where a poor boy lost his dreams and the day where a little girl lost her family. To her, Christmas, was anything but joyful, it was anything but forgiving, and it was anything but love. She learned that she was wrong

"Guys, the food's ready" She shouted to the males who were sparring

"Whose idea was it again to spend Christmas Eve in this bridge?" Naruto asked shivering a bit

"It was yours dobe" Sasuke replied before sitting next to her

"And when did you ever agreed with me?" He asked him, eyebrows raised

"I didn't, I was outvoted" Sasuke grumbled, while drinking Sakura's hot chocolate

"Out of curiosity, who cooked?" Kakashi whispered to his male students when he saw the small buffet laid out

"Don't worry I did it" Naruto whispered loudly, he didn't realized that Sakura heard him

"And… what exactly does that mean?!" She questioned them, her chopsticks breaking; you could literally see her hair flying around. Naruto shivered again, and this time because of an entirely different reason.

"AHHHHH!" the blonde screamed before running away, Sakura hot on his tails

"Won't you help him?" Kakashi asked Sasuke who was now munching an onigiri. The Uchiha looked at his sensei before looking at Naruto, he then returned his gaze to the white haired-jounin.

"Nah"

Sasuke hid a smirk, Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling, Naruto grinned and Sakura laughed

"Merry Christmas!"


	2. The chapter full of Fights

Rated: T (Cause I'm Paranoid like that)

Disclaimer: I _**wish**_ I own Naruto

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (PLEASE READ FIRST):**

If you are an old reader of this story I suggest you read the previous chapter and yes this is revised, if you are new, then I apologize for stopping you, _

Enjoy!

* * *

"_Last One Standing"_

**Chapter Two: The chapter full of Fights a.k.a. The One on One chapter**

Near the memorial stone of Konohagakure, a hooded figure sat alone in a clearing even before the sun rose only to be accompanied in a few minutes by a brooding boy, Sasuke looked at the female before placing himself near a bark of a tree. Half a minute passed before a sleepy individual joined them. Blue and Orange clashed while Black sat… sleeping. All of them were waiting for their Sensei and had made different ways to entertain themselves. The loud knuckle-head was climbing trees because he was searching for possible enemies (not like there were any) and the silent boy remained stoic sitting on the ground minding his own business… well… until he was disturbed.

"Ne ne teme, did you ever wondered what Sakura-chan _really_ looks like?" Naruto Uzumaki asked cheekily, pointing at the sleeping hooded figure snapping the Uchiha out of his own reverie.

The questioned boy didn't move, he took a glance from the corner of his eyes to look at the sleeping form of their teammate, she's just somebody on their team, and frankly, they're just all distractions, obstacles and people who're in his way.

Nothing more

Nothing else

'_Of course I did' _He wanted to say but instead thought against it and said "Dobe, I have no time for such childish things" He scowled at him to add effect, making sure to show him that he didn't like him.

In which Naruto replied with the YEAH-RIGHT-YOU-JUST-THOUGHT-THE-OPPOSITE-OF WHAT- YOU-ACTUALLY-TOLD-ME-AND-DON'T-YA-BOTHER-DENYING-TEME-CAUSE-I'M-THAT-GOOD look.

And Sasuke gave him a HOW'D-YOU-FIND-OUT-IF-YOU-RETOOK-OUR-TESTS-FOUR-TIMES-IN-THE-ACADEMY-JUST-TO-PASS-THEM?-HUH? Look.

Things seem like to stand still, the wind blew heavily but even that didn't moved them

A roll of dust passed

They glared at each other

A boy with tuna fish eyes with a bowl-cut hair and looks like a walking toothpick passed running yelling 'YOUTHFUL'

They're still glaring…

A bunch of people started passing by...

A blushing white eyed girl passed them, mentally cheering for the blonde...

A bunch of fan girls giggled, stopping by with the occasional "GO SASUKE-KUN! WE LOVE YOU!"

A cross dressing teen with glasses on the rim of his nose cooing the snakes on his hands walked by...

And a half naked man fighting a pink haired lad followed by with a flying blue cat saying "It's luuuurve!"

.

.

And yes, through all of that, Sakura is still sleeping...

And Naruto and Sasuke are still glaring

That is until the blonde stopped (he never had any patience) and pouted now facing opposite of the onyx lad and started speaking.

"It's in the Bro-book duh" Naruto replied chin held up

"Dobe, there' no such thing as a Bro-book" The onyx eyed boy corrected smugly

"How are you so sure 'bout that huh teme?" The orange clad knuckle head said after turning his heel and facing his rival

"It's in the Bro Code duh" He answered with a smirk

"Which One?" He narrowed his eyes, he would not believe it

"It's in the Fourth Edition, Chapter 127, Paragraph 43, Sentence 12" He recited, as if he took time memorizing each detail, which he probably did

Uchihas

"Must've missed that" He replied sheepishly, scratching his head a bit

"Dobe" Sasuke snarled

"Teme!" Naruto stomped his foot

"Hn"

"ARGH! Where getting out of topic" Naruto exclaimed after realizing the current happenings

"Hn"

Then two proceeded to glare for… five minutes.

They sat for thirty minutes after getting tired from all the standing.

And then imitated their teammate and just slept

Thirty minutes later a poof was heard and white haired Jounin appeared, scratching the back of his head, his eye crinkled slightly.

"Yo" Kakashi said smiling, he after all expected angry students yelling at him for making them wait for what, four hours? Six? Nope five, definitely five, well what did you expect from the infamous Hatake Kakashi?

But the sight that met him was different, as in totally different

For cereal

Naruto was sprawled to the ground, sleeping with some saliva hanging out from his mouth.

Sasuke was just waking up, blinking; and

Sakura was…well… still sleeping

And he blinked again remembering their files that he read a few hours ago

_Uzumaki Naruto:_

_AGE: 12_

_Appearance: Blonde, blue eyed_

_Teammates: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura_

_Info: An orphan, His parents are classified information. He lives in "Apartment 12C- Orphan Section". The Kyuubi Vessel, Likes: Ramen, Dreams to be a Hokage. Loud, exuberant, brash, inattentive, and heedless to formality or social standings, has a catch-phrase which is "Dattebayo!" More information is classified_

_Stats (1-5)_

_Ninjustsu: 2_

_Taijustsu: 1.5_

_Genjustsu: 1_

_Intelligence: 1_

_Strenght: 2_

_Speed: 2_

_Stamina: 4_

_Hand Seals: 1_

_._

_Uchiha Sasuke_

_AGE: 12_

_Appearance: Black hair with blue tint and blue eyes_

_Teammates: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura_

_Info: An orphan. His parents, Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha are deceased. He lives in the Uchiha compound. A hailed genius at a young age, the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Likes: Tomatoes, Cold, indifferent, cruel, cynical, somewhat arrogant, and devotes his life on killing Itachi, his brother who massacred his own clan. More information is classified_

_Stats (1-5)_

_Ninjustsu: 2.5_

_Taijustsu: 2.5_

_Genjustsu: 1.5_

_Intelligence: 2_

_Strenght: 2_

_Speed: 3_

_Stamina: 2_

_Hand Seals: 3_

_._

_Haruno Sakura_

_AGE: 12_

_Appearance: Classified information_

_Teammates: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke_

_Info: An orphan. Parents are classified information. Likes are Dango. Other details are CLASSIFIED information. __**DO NOT let her near any kitchen, **__for the sake of everyone _

_Stats (1-5)_

_Ninjustsu: 3_

_Taijustsu: 3_

_Genjustsu: 3_

_Intelligence: 4.9_

_Strenght: 3_

_Speed: 2.5_

_Stamina: 2.5_

_Hand Seals: 4.5_

_._

Kakashi took a stick from a branch beside him. Sure he was surprised by Naruto, being the Kyuubi Vessel, he was shunned by everybody, yet instead of being a like any other Jinchuriki, he still had a different attitude than the rest. With a subtle grin he poked Naruto with a stick.

'Poke'

'Poke'

'Poke'

Naruto started to stir, his eyes opened, as if realizing where he is, he bolted upward, pointing a finger at the white haired Jounin

"YOU'RE LATE!" he exclaimed with a smug look on his face, a finger rudely pointing at his face

Kakashi raised an eyebrow gave me him _'the'_ look, making the blonde stop the rude gesture

"Fine" he said pouting, after all nobody can say no to the _'look'_

"**You're late**" Sakura said monotonously after a while, malice clear on her voice, she clearly woke up

And obviously she was pissed _big time_.

"Um… You see… um… there was… um… a… black cat… so I…" Kakashi started, even a Jounin like him can be scared, and after all, nobody can survive a _**pissed**_ female. Thinking against it he just apologized again and again, looking at the Genins before him, he breathed a sigh of relief seeing the dark aura of Sakura diminishing, but he glared at the Uzumaki whom was plainly laughing at him and the Uchiha whom was smirking.

'_Traitors'_

"Let's just start" She said, annoyance still clear in her voice, she lead her teammates to the training grounds, nobody dared to anger the hooded girl far more.

In short, _they were whipped_.

Breaking the tension, Kakashi pulled an alarm clock from his bag.

"Ok, its set for noon" He started, fully catching the attention of his students, he pulled something out from his pocket "Here are two bells, you're task is to take them from me before time's up" He continued "Those who don't get a bell by noon get's no lunch, I'll tie you to one of those stumps" He motioned them to look at the three stumps on their right "But I'll also eat in front of you"

The boy's stomach grumbled right on cue and looked questioningly at Sakura who seemed at ease.

"What?" she asked clearly annoyed from the gazes they gave her "He said 'Oh you might want to skip breakfast, you might throw up', it was an advice not a command, and a ninja needs energy at fighting, so why not eat anything? It's just some kind of way to weaken us, and he obviously did to you two" she finished, clearly annoyed.

And obviously she was _cranky_

And _**talking **_(which is a rare occurrence)

And still _**pissed**_

Naruto showered Sakura with compliments, on how she was so wise and Sasuke glared enviously at the annoyed girl.

Kakashi's eye crinkled a sign that he was amused; she, after all was the first person to see underneath the underneath, this surely is getting interesting.

"You only have to get one bell; there are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to a stump" He continued then his expression turned dark "And a person who doesn't take bell fails, so at least one of you get's back to the academy" And as if nothing happened he returned to his usual aloof self "If you want you can use shurikens and kunais, you won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill" He finished finally

Sakura's hand appeared in the air, showing her black fingerless gloves and asked "May I ask a question Kakashi-sensei?" Her annoyance finally seemed to be gone

This piqued the interest of her interest of her teammates and her sensei.

"Sure, what is it Sakura?" He asks, eyebrow raised, she was the first student assigned to him that asked something

"I was just wondering sensei" she started lowering her hand "Why are you trying to make us fend for ourselves, when were supposed to be a team, not individuals? The outcome of this match is already known after all, a Genin fighting a Jounin can never win, making the objective to be teamwork, because three Genin has the chance of defeating a Jounin more possible" she finished waiting for his reply.

Surprised is an understatement.

The males of Team seven was either staring at her out of awe (Naruto), jealousy (Sasuke) or amusement (Kakashi).

She was good. She was really a genius.

"Why thank you Sakura for revealing the true objective" He started, He cursed his predicament, Oh why could he not have another team that he would eventually fail, He would have to do plan B then. He coughed before continuing "And because of that all of you are now going to fight me, but this time to spice things up, were now fighting **one on one**. You're objective is still getting the bells but let's just see if you can ne? First will be Naruto, Sasuke and then Sakura. Let's Begin!"

He would just have to test their teamwork some other way

Sasuke and Sakura stood at the sidelines while Naruto and Kakashi stood on the middle of the clearing.

Naruto stood opposite of Kakashi, running full speed but stopped and gave them a distance after noticing the older man getting something from his kunai pouch.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number One, Taijutsu, I'll teach you something about it." Kakashi told the loud-mouthed blonde.

'_Wait Taijutsu, that's hand to hand combat. Is he going to use a weapon?'_

Everything seemed to tense…

Waiting…

And waiting...

And waiting...

Only to fell – anime style!

On his hand is a book… But not any book… it was the infamous Icha Icha Paradise

'_What a pervert'_

"What's wrong hurry up and attack me" Kakashi said to Naruto, his nose under the book

"But… Hey, what's with the book?" Naruto asked a little bit confused at his sensei's peculiar action

"I just want to know what happens next, but don't worry it won't make a difference on you" he replied calmly

Talk about hurtful…

"I'LL TOTALLY KICK YOUR ASS!" Naruto exclaimed angrily, running fast to punch his own sensei only to be stopped by one hand. He then turned his heel and squatted down to kick him with full force on air only to realize that his sensei himself ducked to avoid it. Once his own feet touched the ground, he prepared himself to punch him again only to meet a poof of smoke

"Huh?" Naruto asked himself confused

"A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught behind baka" Kakashi said from behind Naruto while positioning his hand

'_No way… is that the fire seal? This guy's totally serious about this'_ Sasuke thought watching from the sidelines

Naruto realizing Kakashi was behind him was surprised, and was about to turn around but felt pain on his… for lack of better word – ass.

"Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutstu Supreme Technique _**'A 1000 YEARS OF PAIN!'**_" Kakashi said with a crazy spark in his eyes, then returning to his book as if nothing happened, while Naruto who was thrown to lake because of the previous…um technique, he thought of a plan and finally came back to the ground panting heavily.

Not a second to spare, a bunch of Kage Bunshins attacked Kakashi. Thinking that Naruto won't be able to hold it for any more second, he let his guard down resulting to one of Naruto's Kage Bunshin to attack him from behind. The real Naruto was about to punch the white haired Jounin but only met thin air.

"Why Naruto, I never thought you could already use Kage Bunshin, a Jounin technique, and you could already hold it after all." Kakashi said from behind Naruto, "Sasuke, your next" He said motioning Sasuke inside the clearing

"Hey! Were not yet finished Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto complained, seeing that he's battle was already done; he after all wanted to complete it so badly.

But alas, life isn't fair, isn't it?

Naruto grumbled while sitting down next to Sakura whom was patiently waiting for her turn by eating another dango.

Sasuke and Kakashi stood opposite of each other just like the start of the previous match, a tense atmosphere surrounded them.

"The village's most powerful clan, _**The Uchiha Clan**_**,** this could be interesting." Kakashi said, still reading his book but still taking a glance at the sole survivor of the massacre. Sasuke was peeved by his actions; he took a stance to make sure he'll be ready to run at any moment, then he pulled about three kunais and threw them at his opponent.

Kakashi jumped to avoid contact to the weapon, only to realize it's coming back at him, he jumped again only to be attacked by a dozen knives. He ran through a corner to avoid being hit by these, but was surprised to see Sasuke behind him ready to kick, he was able to dodge and captured his feet by his hand, the same happened to Sasuke's hand that was supposed to punch him. But he didn't saw the other leg that was about to kick him so when he did, Kakashi immediately let go of his arm and took his other feet. Seeing that he was upside down, he realized his mistake, Sasuke can now get one of the bells, but before he was able to do so, Kakashi threw him away to prevent this.

Naruto stared at awe… that was definitely one heck of a match

And Sakura was still there just eating…

But the young Uchiha was not yet finished. He began making hand signs… horse…tiger, and then…

"KATON GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU!" A large flame came from Sasuke's mouth, making his sensei distinguishable wherever he is. But before he began searching for his sensei, he already appeared.

"Very good Sasuke, but I'm afraid It's Sakura's turn now" Kakashi said his eyes crinkled, a proof he was amused.

Sasuke hearing this, scowled while Sakura started walking towards the clearing. They passed each other slowly, like one of those dramatic slow motions. Sasuke sat a few steps from Naruto, while the last match started.

Just like the two matches that passed they stood opposite of each other. The student and the teacher stood on their ground. Both their faces a mystery, one was a hooded and the other masked.

They stood… and stood… and stood, actually nothing's happening.

"Sakura, don't you have any intention to start?" Kakashi asked the hooded girl

"…" He was met with silence

"I guess I have to start ne?" He said finally, holding out a kunai he took from one of his pockets.

He disappeared out of blue and reappeared behind the girl, she ducked, and turned her heel to turn and kick the Jounin. The man jumped to avoid this only to be met by kunais thrown at him, he used Kawarimi no jutsu and reappeared on a branch of the tree, to inspect the hooded girl's action, only to leave the branch immediately because of the sound of kunais making its way from behind. He jumped back to the ground and realized something; she never left the place she was standing all this time and still managed to make him run around.

'_This girl's good, I bet she's toying around'_

"Sensei, you just want to know what were capable to do aren't you." Sakura stated out of blue "The point of this test is teamwork, which I already said before it even started, but that isn't the only thing you need to do, isn't it? You also need to know what we have learned because you paused halfway your battles. You stopped your first match when you saw Uzumaki-san's Kage Bunshin and stamina, you also stopped when you saw Uchiha-san's speed and Katon jutsu. Am I right sensei?" she finished making the Jounin's eye widen

'_This girl is really smart'_

Before he could move, he was kicked from behind.

'_What the-? I never heard anything'_

The jounin immediately performed another Kawarimi, he reappeared behind a tree a few meters away from the fight. The bark was smashed to pieces, but that did not mean that he was not hurt, far from it actually. He coughed out blood. Her shoes seemed heavy, as if she was wearing weights. She was _really_ good, in a few years she could be unbeatable, with proper training of course.

He smirked before getting down

"Hai, you got me. Well I guess we had too much action for today ne?" Kakashi asked glancing at the bruised boys and the unmoving hooded girl "Well then let me tell you that all of you PASSED!" He finally said smiling… not that they can actually see him smile… but still you get what I mean.

They after all were the first one to see underneath the underneath. "That ends the training, Ok starting tomorrow Team 7 will begin its duties" He said with his thumbs up

While they rejoiced… actually only Naruto was rejoicing, Sasuke was smirking and Sakura was… actually nobody knows what her reaction is… so she was being Sakura-ish a.k.a being mysterious, cool, and eating her dango. Kakashi stood there looking at the first team he passed and saw them at a new light.

He didn't saw Naruto as the Kyuubi vessel…

He saw him as a boy making his way to be acknowledged by his village.

He didn't saw Sasuke as the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre…

He saw him as a boy with confidence and perseverance; and

He didn't saw Sakura as the mysterious outcast of Konohagakure…

He saw her as a girl full of wits and guts that'll truly blossom

He saw them as Team 7

And soon everybody will…

But first he needs to have a talk with the Hokage

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (again): **

Yo! How was the second revised chapter? Are my old readers still confused? How about my new readers? I'm afraid this chapter does not have an extra. I'm still not confident with my extra writing skills after all. ^.^ Reviews are highly appreciated, so are constructive criticism =) I'll try to reply to all of them I'm on a roll! Two stories in two days! But don't worry, since it's the Holidays, you'll hear from me (A LOT), so I won't be going anywhere. I'm still trying to add suspense, humor, angst, romance and action in one story. Guess that's gonna be hard right? Gosh I'm so full, Food does that. XDD

Ja!


	3. The Chapter full of Warmth

Rated: T (Cause I'm Paranoid like that)

Disclaimer: I **wish** I own Naruto

Enjoy!

* * *

"_Last One Standing"_

**Chapter Three: The Chapter full of Warmth a.k.a. A Real Mission!**

A silhouette of a shadow hid behind one of the trees in the forest, barely detected as it continued to look for its target, his teammate that came near him snapped him from his reverie. His other teammate is missing once again, she always does

He peeked to make sure it hasn't moved yet before returning back and giving a nod to his accomplice.

"What's the distance to the target?" he hears from the earphone he was wearing, it was Kakashi, their sensei whom was probably just watching them from a branch above.

"Five meters, I'm ready anytime" another voice says, it was Naruto, he was eyeing their mission, he guesses.

"So am I" he replies shortly, he was never one to talking anyway.

As two boys began to ambush the target, which is a _cat_, it turned to them to their immense surprise. As if it was hungry to eat them, it jumped to their direction, so they halted and readied to themselves for the scratches that never came. Instead when they opened their eyes once again, the cat was sitting quite calmly in the arms of Sakura, his other teammate whom he thought already left.

"Mission complete" she says monotonously to the earphone which was connected to every member of Team Seven.

They turned to the sound of rustling leaves, a signal that it was Kakashi, their sensei that appeared. He was raising an eyebrow at his hooded student. Sakura sensing they need an explanation on why it was just now she helped sighed before answering.

"Fish" she tells them hoping they get her point. Sensing they won't get any further explanation from the twelve-year old girl, they sighed at her antics. She used fish as bait. Everybody did understand, it was a good thing her teammates were intellectual… well _almost_ everybody.

"Ne Sakura-chan what does fish has to do with all of it? How'd you catch the cat?" the orange-clad Genin started questioning her which was followed by _a lot_ more that became _really_ far from the original subject.

Let's just say that it was a _very_ interesting conversation that involved fish, bugs, unicorn, eyebrows, masks, cats, a brooding onyx eyed boy, the color orange, ramen, masks that was supposedly was in 'the season' and how aquamarine don't go with the Uchiha blue...

And yes, the only female in the group was the only one _not_ in that conversation.

They walked back to report the mission to the Hokage. Their sensei whom was reading a perverted book led the way, followed by the brooding boy and the hooded girl whom were followed by the obnoxious loud boy, who was asking many questions to the girl (which were really loud) which she ignored. The group itself attracted the civilians.

It really was such a sight.

* * *

Returning back to the Hokage's tower, the kunoichi took a few steps forward to return the cat to the Fire country's Lord's wife, Madam Shijimi. She happily took the cat away from Sakura and hugged it with all her strength, whereas the cat screeched loudly.

'_No wonder it left' _

'_In your face you stupid cat ha-ha!'_

'_Hn, that's just disturbing'_

"Now Kakashi's Team 7, your next duty is hmm, babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village, and help with a potato digging" The Hokage told them, reading the chores… I mean duties from the paper he was holding.

"NO! NO! NO, THANK YOU! I WANT TO DO A MORE INCREDIBLE MISSION! FIND US A BETTER ONE!" Naruto exclaimed from where he was standing, earning different reactions.

'_I agree'_

'_I'm so getting scolded'_

'_I wonder if I have some dango left. Hmm"_

"YOU IDIOT YOU ARE JUST A ROOKIE! EVERYONE STARTS SMALL AND WORKS THEIR WAY UP" Iruka, whom was sitting next to the Hokage shouted back at Naruto, a bit frustrated about his former student's attitude.

"BUT WE KEEP GETTING THE CRAPPIEST JOB POSSIBLE!" Naruto tried to argue only to get a punch on the head from Kakashi, a kick from Sasuke and a thrown kunai from Sakura (which their sensei deflected, and gave her a look which she ignored).

"Shut up" all of them chorused to the loud mouth who pouted.

"It seems I have to explain to all of you about what these duties are all about" Sarutobi started "Listen, the village receives various requests, from babysitting to assassination" he pulled out his pipe before continuing "Each request is written down on these scrolls-" He pointed at the opened scrolls laying at the top of his desk "-and divided into an A, B, C, D ranking based on difficulty. The village is also divided based on skill, starting with me to the Jounins, Chuunins, and Genins. The missions are then handed by us at the top to the ninjas based on their abilities. And if the duty is completed successfully" He looked at Madam Shijimi who was giving his payment "We receive payment from the client" He finished and looked at them, only to find Kakashi rubbing his head sheepishly and beside him the Genins of Team 7 doing something different…

They were playing Go fish.

"So last night I had Pork Ramen, so Miso sounds good for tonight" Naruto started before turning to Sasuke "How about you teme what did you eat last night?"

"Roasted Tomatoes" He answered back "Go fish" He told Naruto who scowled. He raised an eyebrow to Sakura, his way of asking her the same question.

"Dango" She replied shortly before placing her cards down "I win" she told them.

The boys both scowled at that, but before they question her win, they felt a very dark and… _**angry **_presence behind them.

The three turned to the dark aura that emitted from behind only to see a very _**pissed**_ Hokage.

"You disrespecting Genin-" Ha started only to be stopped by a hand of the kunoichi.

"With all due respect Hokage-sama" she started "We are only Genin, I agree. Patience is also needed to be a shinobi or a kunoichi, yes I also agree, but experience, that sir is what everybody needs, if we keep getting D-Rank missions don't you think we will never be ready to fight just in case if a war might take place, we are not the same children who only trains or the same children who expresses themselves through pranks. We sir may be Genin, but it is also proof that we are already ninja, and the Hitai-ate we wear proves the pride that we have being ninjas and-" Sakura was startled at the sound of the laughing Hokage who put his hand on her shoulder to stop her "short" speech.

"Hai… Hai Sakura if you want it that much I'll give you a C-Rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual." Sarutobi grinned at their faces. Kakashi and Sasuke was surprised that he agreed and Naruto was ecstatic. And Sakura… they might not see it but there was a small smile adorning her features.

"Who? Who? A feudal lord? A princess?" The blonde asked excitedly, he was pumped about this mission.

"Calm down Naruto" The Hokage told him "Hey will you come in here?" he asked the one behind the door in the far side of the room.

The said door opened revealing an old man whom may I add was drunk. He walked inside the room, his gaze travelling to Team Seven.

"They are all a bunch of super brats" he took another sip from the bottle he was holding "A pretty boy who acts cool, a girl who might be confused as a boy and the shortest one with the stupid face"

Sasuke was glaring because he was implied to be _acting_ cool.

'_Dude I'm not pretending, I am cool, I have a fan club to prove that, so yeah sucks to be an old man like you loser!'_

Apparently he's defensive

Naruto was stopped by Kakashi before he supposedly _kills_ their client.

'_That old man I so don't have a stupid face, excuse me but ladies love me, I even have a stalker... wait I wonder who's my stalker...hmmm'_

And he's still an idiot

And Sakura plainly threw a kunai at his beer… which is now lying at the ground.

"It's not my fault you didn't realize that I'm a girl because of your low I.Q." she told him darkly.

And she's insulted

The man paid no mind at the shattered bottle instead he introduced himself somewhat proudly. "I am the super expert builder Tazuna; I expect all of you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge"

Talk about egoistic…

They stared at him for a few minutes before Kakashi broke the awkward silence.

"Um… we'll meet at the front of the gates after thirty minutes" The Jounin said before disappearing in a poof leaving his students.

Sasuke followed his example with a "hn", then Sakura who said "Ja", and lastly Naruto, when he realized that he was the only one left, leaving a completely drunk Tazuna, an amused Hokage and a troubled Iruka.

"Hokage-sama I'm a bit worried about them, what about Naruto, he's the Kyuubi Vessel, Sasuke's an Uchiha and especially Sakura, what if she was seen by _them_" Iruka said frowning, that group was a trouble magnet; when he looked at the Hokage, he was surprised to see him grinning.

"There's nothing to worry about Iruka" Sarutobi replied to the worried Chuunin, a smile evident on his face.

'_Sakura you'll finally blossom'_

_._

* * *

A small figure was sitting at the side of the walls of Konohagakure, the petite girl was casually throwing kunais at her teammate whom was blocking it with his own set of kunais. He was already panting by the speed of her throwing. The young Uchiha ducked once again before throwing another one, while she intercepted the blade with her own, unmoving from her position.

Sasuke finally sat down, giving a nod to his hooded companion, a signal they were done training. He turned to observe their surroundings; they were once again the early ones. She was already eating some Chichi Dango when he came, so he proposed that they train, a _very_ rare occurrence, they were both surprised by this, and a nod was the only answer he got from the peculiar girl.

"You're good" The Uchiha half-smirked.

"You suck" Sakura answered back. It was obvious that tick marks appeared on Sasuke's head.

'_I compliment her and she insults me, I'll show her'_

"You have potential" She continued before munching her dango again, making her teammate raise his eyebrow. "But you still need training" She tilted her head forward.

And he saw her eyes

It was green, but with different shades. There was viridian and grassy green and emerald and many more. He stifled a gasp. It was beautiful. He felt like his soul was being taken away from him. And then he remembered the good times. When his mother and father was still alive, when his family was whole, when he has a home. It was like an illusion, a beautiful one.

And then it was gone.

He saw a hand in front of his face when it ended. He didn't realize that Sakura was already in front of him. Her eyes once again hid. So there he was sitting on ground with a girl, Sakura Haruno, giving her hand out to him

"I'll help you".

And he took it, and for once even though he didn't really touched her hand, with her gloves and all. He felt warmth.

But Naruto just had to ruin the moment..

"LET'S GO!" Naruto shouted, he was with their sensei and client "I've never left the village before" he added sheepishly, slightly scratching the base of his neck.

"… Hey am I really going to be safe with this brat?" Tazuna asked Kakashi, plainly pointing his finger at the orange clad Genin who glared at him.

"Haha… Well I am a Jounin, don't worry" Kakashi replied, his eye crinkling, a sign he was amused by the recent events.

"HEY… HEY…ONE DAY I'M GOING TO TAKE ON THE SUPER ELITE NINJA TITLE, HOKAGE! MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO! DATTEBAYO!" Naruto shouted to the drunken man.

"Oi brat, even if you become Hokage, I'll never respect you" Tazuna told him before leading the way from the village

"I'LL KIL-" The loud mouth was unable to complete his sentence because of the dango that was shoved forcefully through his mouth by his teammate.

Naruto blinked twice before finally comprehending that Sakura gave him her dango and that he was lagging behind. He finally ran to catch up with them, walking with the same pace of his fellow Genins. Realizing that it was too quiet and there were no conversations happening, he took it upon himself to start.

"Ne Kakashi sensei, do they also have ninja in Wave country?" Naruto started

"No, not in Wave country" The white haired Jounin answered "You see Wave Country doesn't have much interference from larger countries and may not need a shinobi village. The "Great Five Shinobi Countries" are the Leaf, Mist, Cloud, Sand and Stone and these countries are the only ones whose leader receives the "Kage". The five Kage are the Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Tsuchikage and Kazekage. They rein over the thousand of ninjas in the world." Kakashi finished his explanation and looked at his students.

'_That lame geezer was that incredible?'_

'_Hn, yeah right'_

'_He's not that great… he don't have any dangos'_

"You guys just doubted the Hokage didn't you?" The Jounin sweat dropped when his students played the "innocent act" but he had to give them props, the flower background was a nice touch.

The rest of the day was convenient for Team Seven, it haven't rained for a while, so travelling by foot is an easy feat, nothing was out of place except the puddle of water that stood out from the dry land and nice weather. This little piece of information was taken great consideration by the masked man and hooded girl whose hand immediately travelled to her kunai pouch.

Two ninjas from behind came out from the previous puddle, both were holding sturdy chains and successfully killed Kakashi with it. They moved swiftly next to Naruto who like Tazuna was shocked by their sudden appearance, but before they were able to kill the orange clad boy a kunai from the only female of the group made the unknown ninja drop the blade he was holding. The Uchiha who was able to catch on what was happening jumped upwards, successfully landing on the opponents and kicked them with strength.

Both ninjas ran the opposite directions and turned their heels at the same time to attack the bridge builder, only to both be kicked hard by the kunoichi, which produced a loud crack (probably their bones). In a flash the white-haired-masked-man-that-goes-by-the-name-of-Kakashi appeared and tied them on a tree in a matter of seconds.

'_What a show off'_

'_Couldn't he be faster? Great my dango's gone –_sigh- _good thing I have some extra'_

'_Phew, were alive'_

'_Kakashi sensei, he used kawarimi'_

"Hey Naruto sorry for not helping you right away, I got you injured" Kakashi told Naruto, then he turned to his other students "Anyway nice job Sakura, you too Sasuke." he ruffled Sasuke's hair (who scowled) and patted Sakura's head.

Both nodded while Naruto replayed the events in his mind, he couldn't quite grasp the fact he wasn't able to contribute anything while Sasuke _and _Sakura was not afraid to fight at their first real battle. Sasuke noticing the gaze the blonde was giving him smirked.

"You alright, scared-" The onyx-eyed black-haired boy wasn't able to complete his taunt due to the dango that was _instantly_ shoved into his mouth by his _**other**_ teammate.

"I thought you were hungry Uchiha-_kun_" Sakura told her chocking and glaring teammate somewhat sweetly…

Mood swings much?

After that um… amusing turn of events, Kakashi explained that he didn't join the fight instantly because he was waiting for the true purpose of the Chuunin ninjas, then after an argument, another dango shoved to the other teammate, a bleeding hand, a Jounin saying that the mission might be too dangerous, Sakura's full speech that contradicted the said Jounin, a twenty-six year old adult depressed that he was beaten in the battle of wits by a twelve year old, Tazuna finally explaining why he was targeted, the dramatic plea of the previous man, a little skit and Kakashi finally accepting, they finally continued after their "little" break and found themselves already on the bridge.

After walking quietly for a while, Naruto suddenly threw a shuriken at their left… revealing a rat…

Sakura somewhat returned back to her silent-slash-brooding self so she looked unaffected

Sasuke just sweat dropped

Kakashi _almost _did an anime fall

Tazuna _**did**_ an anime fall; and

Naruto _**tried **_acting cool.

The blonde threw another shuriken only to see a frightened white rabbit; he immediately hugged it and apologized.

Wait, you apologize to white rabbit but not to a rat?

"DUCK" Kakashi instantly shouted at their group after realizing the purpose of the white rabbit. Everybody followed the order and all were able to dodge the very large sword that came to them. Turning their heads upward they saw their new opponent, a man with bandages over his mouth.

"Well… Well… If it isn't the Hidden Mist's missing nin Zabuza Momochi" Kakashi said, his eyes never leaving Zabuza "Everybody get back" he told his team "This one's is on a whole other level"

But Zabuza wasn't looking at Kakashi, he was looking past through him, he was looking at somebody else…

"Sakura-sama?"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Yo! How are you my dear readers? How was the third chapter? I don't really have anything to say today since it's hard to anything since I have a blasted cold (much less type anything). This chapter is a bit choppy for me. Your reviews and advices make me happy even though I'm sick. Oh I think my funny bone is not active today. Ahhhh. I think I don't even make sense anymore. I'm not even thinking straight today. Well anyway, reviews are highly appreciated, so are constructive criticisms. And I even made an extra (not sure if it's good though). I made it light. Hope you enjoy! HAPPY NEW YEAR by the way guys!

Ja

* * *

**EXTRA # 2: BETTING**

"I think it's white" Ino Yamanaka said to Shikamaru Nara who just sighed.

"Huh?" Choji Akamichi asked, stopping a while from eating his chips.

"Haruno's hair!" She said loudly, getting the attention of half the class."I bet it's white, I bet my month's allowance its white!"

"How did you even get to that conclusion Ino? White? Seriously?" Shikamaru asked her, his eyes almost closed.

"Duh, it's no secret that she's almost as good as my Sasuke-kun and to even be near to Sasuke-kun's level takes years of practice" She said triumphantly as if her theory is right "So after training night and day she finally got white hair!" She cackled evilly.

Shikamaru just deadpanned

"I think I'm taking that bet, I always thought she had green hair," Kiba said entering their bizarre conversation. "I bet you my month's allowance its green"

Green? Kiba seriously?

"Well I always thought she has orange hair" Choji said while munching, when all of them gave him questioning looks, he explained his answer, "I don't know, it's just a hunch" He continued eating.

"I think it is indigo, why? Because she looks like an indigo person" Shino said out of blue

That doesn't even make sense Shino.

"Well anybody else betting?" Ino asked smirking, "I still think it's white"

"I think she's blonde dattebayyo!" Naruto said "Just like me!"

They all gave him incredulous looks.

Imagining Sakura Haruno who always wear black and someone who has a bland attitude to have blonde hair seems impossible

It just doesn't seem right.

"Blue." Was Sasuke's simple answer.

Seriously? Even Uchiha Sasuke?

"Why are you even entering this bet Uchiha?" Shikamaru asked Sasuke who just shrugged and looked at the window.

"A-ano I think its pink" The Hyuuga heiress said quietly.

They all gave her a What-The-Hell look.

Pink? That's even more impossible! Who the hell has pink hair?

White. Green. Orange. Indigo. Yellow. Blue. Pink.

They could just say she has a rainbow colored hair!

"How 'bout you Shikamaru? Not betting?" Ino asked the Nara while smirking

Shikamaru was seriously getting a headache because of all of this.

Waitaminute.

Could it be?

"I think I'm with Hinata with this one." Shikamaru slowly said, "Pink it is" he finished, getting a lot of raised eyebrows from the group. He returned to his own seat not even bothering to explain his answer.

After all Hinata Hyuuga has the Byakugan, and we all know what that means.

Seeing the Hyuuga heiress smirk just made him sure of his answer

He sighed.

It was always the quiet ones.


	4. The Chapter full of Kicks

Rated: T (Cause I'm Paranoid like that)

Disclaimer: I _**wish**_ I own Naruto

Enjoy!

"_Last One Standing"_

**Chapter Four: The Chapter full of Blushes A.K.A. The Dramatic Spectacle**

"…Sakura-sama…?"

The said girl didn't move for a while. She moved her head a bit forward, looking at the bandaged man, the sides of her lips started quirking upwards, and then there was a smile adorning her features. She lifted her hands upward to her hood minimizing the length it has. And for the first time in months, her eyes were finally shown intentionally.

Green clashed with brown.

"Zabuza" she nodded recognition in her eyes. She actually looked happy, for once. She was beaming, a contradiction with her dark, shady appearance. Her smile didn't last long, as if she realized something that dampened her seldom joyful mood, she frowned immediately.

"Why are you doing this?"

The question was a mixture of curiosity and disappointment. Everybody sensed it yet nobody in the rosette's company knew why she suddenly asked such a question and what she was exactly pertaining about. The missing nin, on the other hand, understood.

Zabuza bowed in front of Sakura. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the peculiar scene. Through all the Bingo books that he had read, Zabuza Momochi was always described as a cold-hearted bastard who doesn't bow to anyone, and yet, in front of his own eyes, he is now witnessing the same nin bow in front of a genin, a Konoha _genin_.

.

Okay Sakura-sama was one thing, but bowing in front of a twelve year old?

That's just plain confusing…

Good thing we have the loud mouth of Konoha… (Cue Uzumaki Naruto)

"WAIT ! WAIT ! WAIT A MINUTE !… SAKURA-SAMA ?'' Naruto exclaimed ''COULD SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT IS HAPPENING?''

Naruto was ignored by well… everyone.

"Why?" Sakura repeated, her gaze on the missing nin of the Mist. The said man didn't hesitate anymore at answering though he looked at the Son of the White Fang, the Kyuubi vessel and the Uchiha. All of them were frigid.

"We are to kill the bridge builder, instructed by Gato" He replied finally standing, giving a slight glance at Tazuna who was clearly frightened "but seeing you here, they'll be no chance that we can complete this" he added, "so what do you propose then Sakura-sama?" he finally finished, a bit of teasing in his voice everybody sensed it though nobody commented.

"Zabuza, I thought you stopped" the green-eyed girl replied frowning.

"We did" He said almost solemnly, "But… I… we… - I apologize" He finally said. He disappeared and reappeared once again a few paces afar to where he recently stood. It seems that the killing intent he had doubled fractions. The kunoichi looked at him with a sad, long gaze. It was apparent to anyone in the vicinity that the nin's thoughts were finally resolved.

He was going to fight them. He was going to fight _her_.

Zabuza's hands were positioned to make the fire seal. His arm was pointing straight up and water was surrounding him. "Mist...Concealment" he murmured loud enough for all of them to hear, and, just like the name implied, the mist that formed concealed him.

"Who is he?" Naruto asked, beside him, Sasuke who had been quiet so far, also looked at their sensei.

"He is Momochi Zabuza. He was in the Hidden Village of the Mist's ANBU, he was famous for his 'silent killing' techniques." Kakashi answered evenly.

"S-silent?" Naruto said, gulping. Sasuke took out a kunai, Tazuna was frightened and Sakura was still silent.

"Just as the name implies, it's a killing technique that's executed in a flash and carried out in absolute silence," Kakashi said, all traces of aloofness were gone and now replaced with seriousness.

"So, don't let your guard down."

So of course, they just became more nervous.

"Well…if you fail, you're only going to die." Kakashi added, shrugging as if it was no big deal, the three genins had only one thing in mind then,

'_No shit.'_

"The mist got thicker!" Naruto yelled, shivering a bit.

"The Country of the Waves is surrounded by an ocean, so mists often emerge." Tazuna explained. The bridge-builder was frightened and he didn't bother to hide it.

"Eight points," came Zabuza's voice but his figure didn't reappear, "The larynx, spine, jugular vein, lungs, liver, collarbone, kidney, and the heart. Which vital organ do you want to get struck at?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes before using his chakra to blow away the mist causing Sasuke to take a step back.

'_What an intense thirst for blood...this atmosphere...If I stay here for an hour, I'll lose my mind!_' Sasuke yelled in his mind, his whole body shaking.

"Uchiha-san, calm down. Kakashi-sensei would never get us killed; _I _would never let us get killed." Sakura said smoothly yet blankly, and if they weren't so nervous, they would have commented on her finally making a complete sentence.

"Sakura's right. I will protect you guys with my life. I won't let anyone on my team die. Never again," Kakashi said muttering the last part before turning and smiling at them.

He sweat dropped when he saw his team giving him a dubious look even at their current situation. They didn't bother hiding their doubt concerning his words.

"I don't know about that," Zabuza said before he appeared between Sasuke and Sakura. The former felt numb all of the sudden while the latter hesitated before making her own resolve.

"This is the end." Kakashi was about to move to defend his team but someone beat him to it. And no, it wasn't Naruto. It wasn't even Sasuke. And if you're guessing Tazuna –which I hope you didn't- you're wrong too.

Everyone was staring wide eyed at the pinkette, who had a kunai deep inside the stomach of Zabuza.

"Gomenasai" She murmured, "But I'm not letting you hurt my friends, my precious people. I'll defend them till I die, that is my ninja way!" She looked at him square in the eyes. It was ironic to see two people who were only having a conversation earlier are now fighting face to face.

Her sudden proclamation eased her team's nervousness. Naruto yelled out a "Dattebayyo! You show him Sakura-chan!" Sasuke smirked before pulling out another kunai; a ghost of a smile was present on his face. And Kakashi felt so proud, he was _literally_ crying tears of joy, manly tears of course.

Shocked was an understatement of what Zabuza felt. A distant memory then replayed in his mind.

"_Oi! Squirt, don't wave that kunai too wildly!'' He picked up the child in his arms; the little girl snickered a bit before her face turned serious, as serious as a child's face could be._

"_If I ever do stab you though Zabuza-oji, I'll make sure it's in the front!" She proclaimed as if she was taking an oath._

"_Huh? And why in the front, squirt?" He asked her, eyebrows raised _

"_Duh! Because only traitors stab in the back, and I'll never betray you so I'll just stab you in the front, then you'll always know that I'll always love you Zabuza-oji!" Zabuza's ear turned pink because of her blatant display of affection, he quickly regained his composure. Damn it, he was supposed to the Demon of the Hidden Mist! _

"_How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Zabuza-oji! Gaki!" He started tickling her, peals of laughter echoed throughout the field _

_All was well._

Momochi Zabuza disappeared once again from their sight. He can see everybody's rigid posture. He looked at Sakura once again. It didn't surprise him that she was looking directly at him. She was too good for him.

Kakashi cussed in his mind. This was supposed to be a measly C rank where he could just read his beloved Jiraiya-sama's new work whilst laughing inwardly about playing match maker between Asuma and Yuuhi the other day. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. But no, they just had to have a client who lied about the mission making it go haywire.

The white haired man breathed. From his peripheral vision he saw her only female team member. Day by day, he thought that he finally cracked Sakura Haruno. He thought that she was just a little girl who had some kind of past that was not as horrible as her other teammates. Yet just another mystery once again popped up about her. Just how did she know this nin?

Naruto was shocked at the sudden turn of events. He can feel the tense atmosphere. Looking at the teme, he was slightly surprised that he was frightened, because even if he was good at hiding it, he was good at sensing it. The three of them –Sasuke, Sakura, and him- formed a semi circle to hide Tazuna. Naruto wanted to crack a joke or just say something to ease their feeling, _his_ feeling, yet he couldn't, he was aware that he was not the wisest pot in the kettle but he still knew that whatever situation they're in, it was a life or death matter.

Sasuke stared as the two grown-ups fought. Kakashi told them that they shouldn't interfere; it just made him feel useless. He _hated_ the feeling. It was chaotic, how they fought, yet it still had some sort of grace that shows their years of practice. His eyes widened when his sensei revealed the Sharingan. How could it be? He was not an Uchiha, he was sure of it, if he was, then he should have been in his guiding. The thought dampened his mood instantly. But, how and why in the world did he have the Sharingan? Sasuke knew that his question had to wait, for now they were in a battle.

"You don't understand, do you? You can't defeat me with just your indiscriminate imitations, I can assure you that. But you're pretty good. I see you copied my water clone and by making your clone speak as if he is the real one, you diverted my attention to the clone while the real one used my Mist Concealment technique to hide and observe my movements. Smart, I knew this wouldn't be easy," Zabuza said, commenting on how the Sharingan Kakashi lived up to the rumors.

"However," Zabuza grinned, turning into a puddle and suddenly appeared behind Kakashi, "I'm not that easy to defeat!"

Kakashi quickly ducked and the sword embedded itself in the ground, Zabuza quickly turned and switched the hand that was holding the sword before kicking Kakashi to the lake.

'_Now..!_' Zabuza thought getting his sword and running towards Kakashi but stopped when noticing something on the ground

"Cal traps. How idiotic." Zabuza muttered before disappearing and Kakashi fell into the lake

'_What is up with the water? It's heavy for some reason,_' Kakashi thought before Zabuza appeared behind him doing hand seals.

"Hydro-prison technique!"

'_Shit_!' Kakashi cussed before he found himself trapped in a water prison.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled worriedly.

"Your guys aren't real ninjas!" Zabuza said, suddenly appearing in front of Naruto and kicking him, throwing his headband on the ground and stepping on it.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura grab Tazuna and run!" Kakashi shouted desperately, he was trapped. He lost a team once, a family. A sinking feeling in his stomach is telling him that it just might happen again.

Sasuke suddenly charged to Zabuza trying to land a hit but that was deemed useless because he was just kicked away. Naruto dived after but got the same results as Sasuke, he grinned though, because he still got what he wanted. In his hands were…

'_His headband?_' Kakashi-sensei thought. Naruto was struggling to stand. Even though this action surprised Zabuza, there was something that puzzled him more.

'_Why isn't she helping her teammates?_' He thought when he saw Sakura remain beside Tazuna and stared at him eye to eye, which he broke instantly.

"Hey you…freak with no eyebrows..." Zabuza frowned and snapped his gaze back to the Uzumaki.

"Put this in your bingo book, the ninja who will be the best Hokage in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. His name is Naruto Uzamaki!" Naruto said tying his headband much tighter.

"_This kid has guts..._" Tazuna thought while staring at Naruto.

"Sasuke, can you hear me?" He whispered –a _very _rare occurrence- to his "rival"

"Yeah…" Sasuke said, a bit curious about what his usually obstreperous teammate is planning.

"Good, cause I have a plan..." Naruto said grinning. Sasuke glanced at Naruto and smirked. Before they talked, they glanced at Sakura.

"Sakura-chan just stay put all right" Naruto grinned, "We'll take him down for you" Sasuke added with a smirk.

It was a surprise to Sakura to see these two agreeing on something. If this was another situation, she would have probably been insulted because to an outsider it would seem that they implied that she wasn't strong enough to fight for her own. But it wasn't like that, far from it actually. They knew that she had some sort of relationship with this missing nin. Something that made her smile, which was a feat they have yet to do. They didn't want her to have to fight someone she loves. Because Naruto knows, and Sasuke sees that it was breaking her heart to even point a kunai at him.

And they were trying to look macho and impress her.

Pfft Boys.

"Thank you." It was a simple reply from the hooded girl but it was enough to make them blush.

'_Kawaii! Sakura-chan is so kawaii!'_

'_Am I blushing? Damn it, she's making me _too _soft'_

"Alright, let's bring this guy down!" Naruto said eyes shining with determination when suddenly Zabuza chuckled.

"You think your plan is going to keep you in the game?"

'_This isn't good..._' Kakashi-sensei thought morosely.

"What are guys doing?! I thought I told you to run?! This fight was over the minute I got caught! Now take off! Your mission is to protect the-" Kakashi ranted which Sakura cuts immediately.

"...Will you shut up sensei? Read your porn or something," Sakura said, it was apparent that she was trying to ease his nervousness, "You're too tense, I'll guard the client, don't worry too much. Have you forgotten already? Those who don't follow the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash," Sakura said finally taking out some dango, there was a tiny quirk in her lips.

"Sakura…" Kakashi murmured, it seemed that he was a loss for words, "You.. you.." He started sniffling, "… finally completed a sentence!"

Naruto _and _Sasuke _**and**_Zabuza promptly fell backwards for a moment before regaining their composures.

"Alright, you heard that, Kakashi-sensei? She'll be beside Tazuna-san...Naruto, ready?" Sasuke said, still not believing how comical their sensei could be even in the worst situations.

"Yeah! Believe it!" Naruto grinned widely

Zabuza started laughing, "You really haven't learned anything have you?! Still playing your little game; pretending to be ninjas. When I was your age this hand already killed many opponents!"

"Zabuza, you demon," Kakashi-sensei muttered, he knew all too well what he was talking about

"Oh? So I was in your bingo book too, huh?" Zabuza said, almost mockingly.

"Long ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist also known as Mud-Mist village before a student can become a ninja, there is one final test they must do." Kakashi-sensei started.

"You know about the graduation exam?" The Demon of the Mist asked somehow tauntingly

"What's the big deal?! We had a graduation test too!" Naruto yelled. Zabuza, once again, chuckled, this time because of their ignorance.

"Did you have to kill the other students to pass?" Everyone minus Sakura, who found the ground interesting all of the sudden and Kakashi, who was glaring, gasped, "Just imagine young ninjas like you -eating together, training together and then comes the final exams, the rules: Kill or be killed. You can't stop if your opponents still breaths. He was your friend, you shared your dream! Now, it's him or you!" Zabuza said, to most of them, it seemed that he was proud of this, but Sakura knew better. She knew that it was still a nightmare for Zabuza. She knew.

"So…cruel," Naruto breathed out, not wanting to believe that such a thing existed.

"Ten years ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist, a student who wasn't even a ninja came inside the classroom and killed almost a hundred students…" Kakashi said, everyone already knew who he was talking about.

"It felt so...good!" Zabuza said before rushing towards Sasuke and knocking him down and using his elbow to deliver a blow on his stomach. Sasuke spat out blood from his mouth before coughing

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled making a bunch of Narutos appear, all of them started surrounding Zabuza.

"Oh? Shadow Clone Jutsu and there's quite a number of them," Zabuza said, counting them mentally.

"HERE WE GO!" the Narutos charged at Zabuza, each having a kunai in hand. With a simple swept of his blade, the clones flew away.

"I'm not done yet! Sauske!" Naruto said throwing something at Sasuke.

'_So that was your plan'_ Sasuke thought, twirling around before the huge shuriken opened and he jumped.

"DEMON WIND SHURIKEN!" Sasuke shouted, throwing the shuriken at their enemy.

"Ha! That's not going to-HUH?!" Zabuza asked as the Shuriken passed by him.

"So you passed the clone and aimed for the real one. Smart. But not smart enough!" Zabuza said catching the shuriken.

"HUH?" He said noticing another one coming towards him.

"_A second shuriken. A shadow of the first! A Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!_" Zabuza thought.

"YOU CAN'T CATCH THIS ONE!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke smirked before the shuriken Zabuza dodged poof-ed into Naruto.

"EAT THIS!" Naruto yelled, throwing a kunai at his hand and Zabuza had no choice but to withdraw it and stop the prison jutsu.

"I'll destroy you!" Zabuza said, spinning the shuriken he had in his other hand to throw at Naruto but a hand stopped it. Kakashi-sensei growled bringing his head up to glare at Zabuza.

"HAHAHA! He didn't know what hit him! Dattebayyo!" Naruto said scratching behind his head.

"Hmmp...I got distracted," Sasuke whispered –quite loudly- something that sounded like 'Liar!' and Zabuza's eyebrow twitched, "And lost my grip of the water prison." Zabuza finished as if he wasn't interrupted.

"Don't even think about it. You were forced to let go," Kakashi said. The shuriken suddenly closed and Zabuza was pushing more of his weight to the shuriken, trying to push Kakashi back but Kakashi swapped the thing away. Both jounin-level ninjas jumped back and Zabuza started doing hand seals whilst chanting. The white haired jounin quickly followed the hand seals and chant. They continued until the last seal was finished.

"Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" Two water dragons came out from the lake and attacked each other. While that was happening Zabuza and Kakashi were fighting with their own weapons, a sword for the former and a kunai for the latter.

They both landed perfectly, then suddenly Zabuza starting circling Kakashi, who mirrored every action of his opponent perfectly. Zabuza stopped and positioned his hands the same way he did the first time he used Mist Concealment. Kakashi did the same thing at the same time, Zabuza's eyes widened.

'_My movements… It's as if...It's as if he knows what I'm going to-_'

"Do next?" Kakashi-sensei said finishing the sentence Zabuza was thinking, making him widen his eyes.

'_What? Is he reading my mind as well?_' Kakashi-sensei was just staring –glaring actually would be a more appropriate word- at him.

'_He looks at me with such eyes..._' Zabuza thought positioning his hand to a circle, Kakashi mimicking it perfectly.

"It makes you furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi said as if reading his thoughts. Zabuza growled in fury.

"The only thing you're doing is copying me! Like a monkey! You can't beat me with cheap tricks!_** I'll crush you!**_" Kakashi and Zabuza said the last sentence in unison.

"Argh! When I'm finished with you, you'll never be able to imitate anyone again!" Zabuza shouted while doing hand seals when suddenly a figure was forming behind Kakashi.

"_What is that?_" Zabuza widened his eyes when the figure formed him.

"_It's me! But how! Is it genjutsu?_" but while Zabuza was thinking that, Kakashi took advantage of it and finished the hand seals.

"Suiton Daubakufu no Jutsu!"

"What?! Impossible!" Zabuza yelled before he was swept by the water.

Zabuza grunted in pain when his back met a tree and sensing Kakashi on the tree, he looked up.

"This is your last battle Zabuza Momochi. _Ever_." Kakashi was about to finish him off when suddenly, two senbons were thrown and embedded themselves in Zabuza's neck.

"You were right. It was his last battle," A figure said from the tree beside Kakashi. The jounin jumped down the tree and checked the pulse.

"None…" Kakashi said before looking at the Hunter-Nin.

It was a man with a moss green, striped turtleneck sweater and a split skirt in matching color that reached down to his knees. He wore a green blue short kimono with white edges, and around his waist a green brown obi, in the same fabric as his sweater, with a fringed trail. He also wore light brown platoon sandals with straps in the same color as his kimono and nail polish on his fingernails and toenails in matching blue green color. His long hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of his hair fell loose framing his face, a white mask with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol on the forehead.

"I have to thank you. I am tracking him for quite some time now." He said evenly.

"Judging by your mask, I'm guessing you are a Hunter-Nin from the Mist." Kakashi said looking at him, inspecting him.

"You are correct." The man replied stoically

"A Hunter-nin!" Naruto said, coming in front of Tazuna.

"Naruto, you don't even know what that is," Sasuke said looking at Naruto with annoyed eyes. Both are quite carefree now than they were a minute ago.

"I am a member of the tracking team. It was my duty to eliminate Zabuza." The masked-Nin said.

"_Judging by his height and voice he must be the same age as Sakura, Sasuke or Naruto, and he is already an assassin. He's no ordinary kid,_" Kakashi thought deeply.

"What is this?! Who do you think you are?!" Naruto yelled, angry all of the sudden

"Easy Naruto, he is not our enemy," Kakashi said, but he was certainly aware that this _kid_ could not really be an ally

"That's not the point! Did you see what he did?! He killed Zabuza just like that! This kid, who is probably the same age as us, brought down Zabuza with just ONE move!" Naruto yelled, not accepting, that someone killed the missing nin in a flash while it took them hours just to survive the battle they've just gone through.

"Even if you don't accept Naruto, it did happen," The Jounin said rubbing the Naruto's head. The Hunter-nin disappeared, only to reappear beside Zabuza to pick said man's body.

"Please excuse me. Farewell."

.

"_Wait_."

.

Everyone paused and stared Sakura who was holding the sleeve of the Hunter nin. Nothing happened for a while before she shook her head, going back to her senses, she instantly let go and murmured "Nothing".

The nin stared at the female for a while longer before nodding and disappearing. The males glanced at Sakura, who averted her eyes and looked at the opposite direction.

"Let it go, Naruto," Kakashi said when Naruto growled.

Sakura then finally faced Team Seven and their client. Because the tense atmosphere were now finally gone, they were finally able to _really_ _look _and take in her appearance without her hood covering her eyes. Her green eyes made her somehow… shine. Her eyes contradicted the black garments she wore. Her face now is much exposed and her hair is now the only thing unseen. And well Naruto and Sasuke did the only thing expected…

They blushed. _Again._

Sasuke felt it again, that sensation, he felt as though his soul is taken away from him. Looking at her, he felt happiness. An eternity of happiness, that's what it is. He didn't want to leave her gaze.

Naruto on the other hand felt amazing. This was the first time the blonde saw her eyes. He saw the little moments. The first time he ate ramen, the first time someone smiled at him, the first time he touched his hitai-ate, every single first time. Her eyes, those lovely, benign green eyes are just… amazing.

Kakashi remembered. Her eyes made him do so. He remembered another Uchiha, a prankster unlike the one beside them. But most of all she made him remember a certain girl who loved him. So in the end, he remembered the feeling of love, of the bond of friendship. He blinked taking it all in. He narrowed his gaze it felt like he was trapped in her gaze for hours, but only seconds have passed.

'_Who are you Sakura Haruno?'_

"Ahem" Kakashi took his team's attention before his eye stops at Sakura's, but he took extra measure so that he wasn't really looking at her eyes "Would you mind explaining? Sakura-sama? How in the world did you know Zabuza Momochi Sakura?" he raised his eyebrow for further emphasis.

"No" she replies icily, she was getting defensive, something her sensei noted. And he really thought that he finally broke her, with the "Those who leave their friends behind are worse than trash" thing she said earlier. It feels like they were back to square one.

"I wasn't asking Sakura, I'm commanding" the white haired Jounin replied with a much stronger tone. He sighed internally,

'_She's as stubborn as his teammates after all'_

"You're a sensei, not a commander" she tells him with her own force, her eyes much darker, a proof she was angry. That made him sweat drop, if she was blither, like Naruto, she would've probably been the most onerous in his team, or in other words, more "troublesome".

Naruto was actually silent beside Sasuke who was actually not brooding for once; on their right was the bridge builder who looked confused at the current happenings

"Fine then" he replied "I still need to know everything about you Sakura" he added "I'm your sensei, I have every right to know"

"And I have every right to refuse" she turned her heel, a sign she was done talking, leaving her sensei sighing.

'_I really need to retire'_

The spectators comically released their breath at the same, all of them thinking the exact same thing.

.

That was_ freaking _intense.

.

"We still need to finish our mission." But when he took a one step his world went black. Sakura quickly caught the body. She positioned him behind her back and sighed. She looked at her company.

"He's exhausted. Lead the way, Tazuna-san."

Sakura Haruno looked at the path where the Hunter nin took Zabuza, she then looked at the clouds, thinking only one thing.

'_The battle's not yet over'_

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

I know, I know, I'm just so _sorry_. I can't believe how long I didn't update. I know that this is probably the most used excuse in the world and not the most believable one, but I just never had any time. It's the truth! Swear! But hey, at _least_ it's longer than my other chapters _and_ its vocabulary is much wider. Sigh. Between balancing school (Hey! I'm in three _freakin_ departments, we're only supposed to have one!), home (I still have chores you know and I take care of my sister at the same time 24/7) and my social life (Pft. Not like I have any), I just get lost. I don't know anymore. My life's a bit different from others. I know, I know, I have time to read but I don't have time to write. The saying; "Easy to read, hard to write" really comes in. Lack of inspiration is another reason why I didn't update. Ugh. I'm a senior now, which means I have to prepare for University tests, which also means less time for writing. I _could_ notstudy, but I rather have a future. So Ugh. I hate reality, it continues to ruin my life.

It's April Twenty-nine today, which means: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! So Review ;) And I do hope you forgive me for updating this so late :))

I was supposed to finish the whole arc in this chapter but I decided to divide it in the end. HOHOHO. XDD _And _I was also supposed to add an extra _but _I'm in a rush so I'll just put two in the next chapter.

Ja.


End file.
